Multiple shaft tower construction



June 18, 1968 F. A. DAVIDSON, JR., ET AL MULTIPLE SHAFT TOWER CONSTRUCTION Filed Nov. 29, 1965 5 Sheets-Sheet l June 18, 1968 F. A. DAVIDSON, JR.. ET AL 3,383,511

MULTIPLE SHAFT TOWER CONSTRUCTION 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Nov. 29. 1966 BY M ATTO NEYS.

June 18, 1968 F. A. oAvlosoN, JR.. ET AL 3,388,511

MULTIPLE SHAFT TOWER CONSTRUCTION Filed NOV. 29. 1966 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 at@ mage/ F. A. oAvlosoN, JR.. e'r m. 3,388,511

MULTIPLE SHAFT TOWER CONSTRUCTION `lune 18, 1968 M MAJ# ATTOR June 18, 1968 F. A. nAvlosoN, JR.. ET AL 3,388,511

MULTIPLE SHAFT TOWER CONSTRUCTION 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed Nov. 29. 1966 v INVENTORS fkk-alswel( 4. kwam/vd@ Paw 0. 52x/4L a' United States Patent O 3,388,511 MULTIPLE SHAFT TGWER CONSTRUCTQN 1Frederic A. Davidson, Jr., New Rochelle, and Roger D.

Sehalge, Brookiyn, NX., assignors to Harsco Corporation, Wormleysburg, Pa., a corporation o Delaware Continuation-impart of application Ser. No. 518,652, Jan. 3, 1966. This application Nov. 2.9, w66, Ser. No. 597,717

5 laims. (Cl. 521-30) The present invention relates to hoisting towers more particularly of the multiple shaft type capable of being assembled or erected on the job lfor temporary use and thereafter dismantled and remove-d for use at another location.

This application is a continuation-in-part of our copending application Ser. No. 518,052, tiled Jan. 3, 1966.

Known forms of such towers have included those erected with two or more shafts and have involved extensive use of separable girts, braces, posts, rails7 etc., with nuts and bolts for holding these component parts together. All these require use of judgment as to selection of component parts and skill in their assembly.

In hoisting towers, the actuating machine for lifting the elevator car, skip or cage, usually includes an electric motor, which in the case of a material hoist may be at the base of the tower or, in the case of a personnel hoist, may be mounted on a frame in the tower, in which case the weight of this machine plus the elevator cars and loads is borne by the tower structure.

Among the objects of the present invention are to provide a multiple shaft tower construction wherein the structural skeletal parts are, in major degree, prefabricated integral units, substantially dat or two-dimensional for compact storage, readily handled and of moderate weight, and which can be quickly assembled on the job in vertical array and releasably secured together quickly and easily with only minimal use of nuts and bolts. Thus, the tower is a structure wherein separate diagonal and horizontal framing elements such as braces, girts, and the like, can be substantially eliminated.

Our invention is advantageously embodied in a multiple shaft hoisting tower comprising a vertical array of substantially similar superimposed sections made up primarily of prefabricated two-dimensional integral units or panels including uprights or posts, diagonal braces and horizontal girts. Each section includes opposed latcrally spaced unitary side panels, intermediate or intershaft panel between and laterally spaced from said side panels, unitary end panels at the outer, or street end of the section, and ordinarily also landing panels or beams at the inner or building end thereof.

Said side and intershait panels, in a material hoist tower for example, include integral units of generally triangular plan defined by an upright tubular post, a horizontal girt secured at one end. to an upper end of said post, a yoke at the opposite end of said girt and a diagonal brace with one end secured to the horizontal girt near the yoke end thereof and with its other end secured to said upright post between the bottom end and a miuportion thereof.

Opposite side panels and interposed intershaft panels are assembled on the job with an end panel connecting the yokes at the outer ends of said side panels with the ice posts at the sides of the end panels to form shaft sections of the tower. These sections are connected at their corners and at midportions, i.e., between shafts, to panels of vertically adjacent sections by copular pins, known in the industry as sprocketsj shown here as having a shank at each end and; in the mid-section, a flange so arranged that, when assembled, the bottom end of said shank extends into a hollow top end of a lower coaxial post sulliciently to provide a strong connection. The top end of said shank extends upwardly from the tlange for insertion into a hollow `bottom end of a coaxial post of the next higher adjacent section. Advantageously, the lange, or other lateral projection, midway between the pin ends supports the sprocket on the top endof a post or sleeve where it may be releasably locked by a bolt or the like extending through it and the post or sleeve into which it is telescoped.

A hoisting tower ordinarily includes in each shaft guide rails for a skip or the like, in the case of a material hoist shalt; and for a car or platform cage and counterweight, in the case of an elevator. ln a material hoist shaft, a skip supporting assembly eg., a cathead, sheaves and cable, is removably mounted at the top of any desired section; and the cable may be actuated by hoisting ma chinery conveniently located at the base or at the top of the tower. rlhe Caihead is advantageously mounted with its ends resting on appropriate removable supports which, in turn, may rest on sprockets mounted as above noted at the top ends of panel posts.

Car operating machinery may be mounted on a deck supported on a frame which spans the shaft, said frame comprising a transverse beam operatively engaged at its ends with guide rails, which also guide the car; and diagonally disposed beams equipped with extensible end portions are arranged and adapted to rest on the llanges ot' said sprockets.

ln an embodiment of a double shaft or double well tower according to our invention, those panels of the vertical array which, in effect, define the division between the shafts may be of the same size and construction as the side panels and provide means by which all the like panel elements of said shafts at each level, or in each component section, may be effectively interconnected and whereby hoist actuating devices may be supported partly on said dividing or intershaft panels and partly on the side panels.

in the exterior exposure, i.e., the street end of the multiple shaft hoist, has panels of generally triangular contour, each advantageously comprising a single upright post, a top girt and a diagonal brace extending be tween a bottom end portion of the post and the outer end of the girt.

in a multiple shaft material hoisting tower, the entrance side or building end advantageously comprises in each section a landing panel, a transverse beam with a single or multiple adjustable brace arm or arms pivotally mounted at an intermediate under portion of said transverse beam, and provided with clamping means at its outer ends `for releasable connection with spaced uprights of laterally adjacent panels.

In a double shaft material hoist installation where the landing panels for the several shafts are to be at the same or substantially the same level, said transverse beams are advantageously tubular, one of them being fitted at each end with clamping means which can be releasably secured to the uprights of component panels in the same tower section, and in effect spanning the opening of one of said shafts. The other or second co-operating landing panel beam is also tubular and is tted with a clamp at its outer end. Its opposite or inner end is open and adapted telescopic-ally to receive a connecting sleeve (FIGURES 16 and 17); and means are provided for releasably securing one end of said sleeve to said inner end of said first mentioned tubularbeam; and other means are provided for releasably securing the opposite end of said sleeve in effective telescoping engagement with said second mentioned tubular beam.

In the embodiment shown in FIGURES 1 to 7, with end panels as aforesaid, the top girt of each triangular panel is advantageously provided. with a forked yoke at its free end which operatively spans an upper end portion of `a post or upright of a laterally adjacent panel of the adjacent shaft. It is releasably secured by a connecting pin through the ends of the yoke and the post and sprocket.

Other objects and distinctive features of our invention will appear from consideration of the following description, claims and accompanying drawings, wherein we have described and shown a preferred embodiment of our invention and have suggested various alternatives. These are given to illustrate the invention and to aid others in understanding its principles so that they can practice it in various form and modifications, each as may be best suited to `the conditions of a particular use, and are not intended to be exhaustive.

In said drawings,

FIGURE 1 is a view in elevation showing the front or outer end of a multiple shaft hoisting tower erected at the side of a building and wherein one shaft (left) is designed for transporting material and the other (right) is designed for transporting personnel.

FIGURE 2 is an elevation showing the left side of said tower.

FIGURE 3 is a view in elevation showing the rear or inner end of the tower facing the building and indicating hoisting equipment in one shaft (left) for transporting personnel and hoisting equipment in the other shaft .(right) for material.

FIGURE 4 is a view in elevation showing in full lines an end panel of one section of the material shaft portion of the tower shown in FIGURE 1 and, in dotted lines, showing portions of vertically adjoining panels and a portion of an end panel of the laterally adjoining personnel shaft portion of said tower.

FIGURE 5 is a fragmentary view in transverse section on the line 5-5 of FIGURE 4.

FIGURE 6 is a fragmentary view partly in vertical section from the line 6 6 of FIGURE 4.

FIGURE 7 is a view in elevation showing in full lines an end panel of one section of the tower and an inner end portion of the other end panel, shown in full lines, FIGURE 4.

FIGURE 8 is a fragmentary view partly in transverse section on the line 8 8 of FIGURE 7.

FIGURE 9 is a view in elevation of a side panel employed to form the outer sides of a section of the tower as well as for providing in such section an intershaft panel between laterally adjoining material shafts.

FIGURE 10 is a fragmentary top plan view from the line 10-10 of FIGURE '9.

FIGURE l1 is a top plan View of a beam forming part of a landing panel at the inner or building end of the personnel shaft of the tower.

FIGURE l2 is a view in elevation of the inner or building end of a portion of the personnel shaft showing the adjustable brace arms of the landing panel.

FIGURE 13 is a View on enlarged scale, partly in vertical section, of a connecting sprocket for connecting the ends of coaxially arranged posts of vertically adjacent panels.

FIGURE 14 is a view in elevation of a connecting sprocket having a peripheral flange of greater lateral extent than that seen in FIGURE 13.

FIGURE 15 is a view in elevation of modified forms of landing panel beams with parts shown in section.

FIGURE 16 is a transverse section on the line 16-16 of FIGURE 15.

FIGURE 17 is an exploded view in perspective showing adjoining end portions of the landing panel beams as seen in FIGURE 15 and telescoping sleeve for connecting said ends; and

FIGURE 18 is a view in elevation of the front end of a section of a double shaft material hoisting tower.

Referring to the drawings, a multiple or double shaft tower embodying our invention includes primarily prefabricated panels `arranged in an array of vertically connected sections. In one form, the hoisting shafts are laterally connected and have common intershaft panels between them. A suitable elevator car and hoisting machinery are installed in one shaft; and a suitable skip, or thelike, and actuating machinery are provided in connection with the other shaft and operable independently.

As seen in FIGURE 1, a tower embodying our invention in one form provides a skip hoist shaft (left) and a car hoisting shaft (right). The outer end of each section of the tower, as viewed from the street, for example, includes a generally triangular panel 10 at the back of one shaft portion and a generally rectangular panel 11 at the back of the other shaft of the tower.

Although the embodiment of our invention as seen in FIGURES 1, 2 and 3 is shown as combining two different shafts, it will be understood that, in some circumstances, the double tower will, for example, consist of two substantially identical shafts, FIGURE 18.

The triangular end panel 10, FIGURES 4 and 18, for the left-hand shaft as seen in FIGURE 1, comprises a tubular post 12, a horizontal tubular girt 13 and a diagonal tubular brace 14 extending between a lower end portion of post 12 and a free end portion of girt 13. A yoke, FIG- URE 5, is secured to and extends from the free end of girt 13.

The rectangular end panel 11, FIGURE 7 for the personnel shaft, comprises laterally spaced tubular uprights or posts 16 and 17 which are connected adjacent their upper ends by a tubular horizontal top girt 18 and at lower end portions by a tubular horizontal bottom girt 19. A tubular diagonal brace 20 connects a lower end portion of post 16 with an upper end portion of post 17.

A counterweight guide rail 21, FIGURES 7 and 8, is carried by plates 22 secured to the girts 18 in the vertical array of panels 11 defining the exterior end of the shaft.

As seen in FIGURE 2, the outer side of the left shaft of the tower is advantageously made up of a vertical array of side panels 23; and the partition between the shafts also comprises such an array. Each said side panel and intershaft panel 23 includes a tubular upright or post 24, FIG- URE 9, a girt 25, preferably an I-beam, a tubular diagonal brace 26 and a sleeve 27 secured at the free end of girt 2S. A plate 28 secured, as by welding, to girt 25, and other similar plates in the vertical array of side panels support the guide rails 29 for the skip (not shown) in the material shaft and similar devices provide guide means for the car (not shown) in the personnel shaft.

To erect a tower as seen in FIGURES 1 through 3, the above described panels are set up in superimposed sections with the bottommost resting on a suitable beam 30; or, if conditions require, said panel sections rest on starter columns at 31. In such cases, adequate bracing for these columns on the outer or street end may be supplied in the form of beams 32 and 33 and, on the inner or building end, in the form of transverse beams 32 and 33', respectively, each of said beams being equipped with depending brace arms pivotally secured thereto and having at their outer ends clamping devices 34, 34' which can be releasably secured at desired positions along starter columns 31.

The component panels are advantageously interconnected vertically and horizontally by suitable connecting sprockets 35, 35' as seen, for example, in FIGURES 6, 13 and 14, having peripheral flanges 36, 36. As seen in FIG- URE 6, the connecting pin is mounted with its ange 36 resting on the top edge of sleeve 27 -with the upper or shorter portion of its stem extending upwardly from said flange into the open lower end of upper post 17. The longer or lower end of said stem below said flange extends downwardly through said sleeve 27 and into the open top end of lower coaxial post 17. Said pin or sprocket 35, FIG- URE 6, is releasably secured in the position described by suitable means, as bolts 37, which extend through holes 38 in the sprocket 35 and through appropriately positioned holes in said posts.

As seen in FIGURE 3, car actuating devices are mounted in the left shaft and skip actuating devices in the right shaft. Thus, in the left shaft a platform supported on a frame including a transverse beam carries hoisting machinery represented by the drum 39 and cable 40; and in the right-hand shaft, a transverse cathead 41 carries sheaves 42, 43 and cable 44 driven by motor 44 at the base of the tower to hoist and lower a skip, or the like. Said cathead in the skip shaft is advantageously positioned with end portions resting on cathead supporting beams which in turn are supported at their ends by the special sprockets 35 which also receive and support coaxial posts of superposed panels. This arrangement permits raising and lowering of the supports for the skip mechanism including the cathead to different levels and removably positioning them at said levels. And further, said cathead and the sprockets 35 co-operate with the panels 10, 11 and 23 in any desired section or sections without change or modification of the panels defining such sections.

As seen in FIGURES l, 3, 1l and 12, the adjustable brace beams 32, 33 at the outer or street end of the tower, FIGURE 1, and the adjustable landing panel beams 45, 46, at the inner or building end of the lower, FIGURE 3, may be releasably secured in their operative positions. Thus, the inner ends of beams 32 of the material shaft are positioned to overlap adjacent inner ends of beams 33 of the personnel shaft, FIGURE l; and the inner ends of beams 46 of the material shaft landing panels overlap adjacent inner ends of beams 45 of the personnel shaft landing panels. With this arrangement, it will be clear that the ioor access landings of the material shaft may conveniently be located at different levels from those of the adjacent personnel shaft.

Referring to FIGURES l1 and 12, the landing panel for the personnel shaft, seen as an I-beam 45, has clamps 47 at its ends for releasably securing said beam to laterally opposed panel posts, as 43. Said beam 45 is provided with a depending bracket 49 to which adjustable brace arms 50 are pivotally connected. Suitable clamping means 51 slidably mounted at free end portions of arms 50 permit said end portions to be releasably clamped at diffe-rent positions along the posts 48 at a level below that of the landing beam.

In a tower where access landings of both shafts are to be positioned preferably at substantially the same level, we provide tubular landing beams 52 and 53 of the type seen in FIGURES l5, 16 and 17 which can be employed advantageously in place of the I-beams 45 shown in FIG- URES 11 and l2. Said alternative beam 52 for the personnel shaft portion of the tower at the left in FIGURE l5 advantageously is of rectangular cross section having a clamp 54 secured at its inner end, as by welding, and a similar clamp 55 at its outer end.

The alternative landing beam 53 for the other shaft portion of the tower is preferably of the same contour and transverse dimensions as and coaxial with beam 52 of the personnel shaft and has a clamp 56 secured at its outer end, FIGURE l5. One end of a connecting sleeve 57, FIG- URES 16, 17, telescopes into the open inner end of beam 53 and the opposite end of said sleeve telescopes into the open inner end of beam 52, thus bridging the joint between said ends. These parts are releasably secured in operative relation by suitable means, as bolts 58 and 58.

Each of said transverse beams 52 and 53 is provided with a depending bracket 59 on which adjustable brace arms 60 are pivotally suspended. Adjustable clamps 61 permit said arms to be releasably secured to adjacent posts at desired positions of longitudinal adjustment thereon.

With the alternative landing panel parts assembled as shown in FIGURE l5, i.e., with beams 52 and 53, in effect coaxial, it is apparent that landing facilities, as platforms or ramps (not shown) extending between the building and the tower, may be positioned for use at approximately the same level in both shafts. A further advantage is that platforms of substantially the same dimensions and design may be employed for both the shaft landings.

From the foregoing description considered in connection with the drawings, it appears that a tower installation, according to our invention, may be erected quickly and easily; that it will require a minimum of differently designed or dimensioned parts, bearing in mind the different conditions encountered in the operation of said shafts; and that the overall weight of the tower can be calculated at approximately minimum without sacrifice of any safety factor. In addition, the described manner of interlocking 4the component panel units both horizontally and vertically produces a strong and dependably stable multiple shaft tower at substantially lower costs not available in the construction of conventional single purpose towers or in known types of double purpose towers.

We claim:

1. A multiple shaft hoisting tower of skeleton construction including a vertical array of superimposed vertically interconnected sections, each said section being peripherally defined by structural elements including an integral panel at each side thereof, an integral end panel releasably connected at one end to one of said side panels, and an integral end panel connected at one end to said first named end panel at its opposite end to one of said side panels, said end panels extending across and delfining one end of said section, an integral intershaft panel connected at one end to the interconnected end portions of said end panels and extending therefrom toward the opposite end of the section and in a plane substantially parallel to said side panels thereof, each of said side and intershaft panels including a tubular upright post, a horizontal girt secured thereto, a diagonal brace operatively connected between the post and a free end portion of the girt, and panel connecting means at the outer end of said girt arranged with its vertical axis substantially parallel with the post axis, and connecting pins each comprising a shank and a peripheral laterally extending bearing intermediate the ends of said shank, said panels of each section being interconnected with like panels of vertically adjoining sections by said pins, each of which pins is positioned with the end of its shank below said bearing extending into the upper end of a coaxially positioned post and with said bearing resting on the top edge thereof, and with the end of the shank above said bearing extending into the bottom end of a coaxially positioned post in a vertically adjoining upper section of the array, whereby said side and intershaft panels are releasably connected with said end panels to form an end, two sides and a partition of the multiple shaft tower.

2. Tower according to claim 1 wherein one end panel includes a yoke at the free end of the horizontal girt thereof said yoke being arranged in spanning relation to a post of the adjoining end panel and means are provided for releasably securing said yoke to said post and to a connecting pin telescoped therein.

3. Tower according to claim 1 wherein a transverse brace beam releasably secured and vertically adjustable on and between spaced end posts extends across the width of one of said shafts and a transverse brace beam substantially coaxial therewith extends across the width of the other of said shafts, and means are provided for operativcly connecting the adjacent opposed ends of said beams including a bridging element arranged with its end portions in releasable operative engagement with opposed end portions of said respective beams, whereby said brace beams provide, in etect, a continuous brace beam operative at the same desired level in both shafts of said tower.

4. Tower according to claim 3 and wherein said brace beams are tubular and the ends of seid bridging element are telescoped in opposed ends of said respective beams.

5. Tower according to claim 3 and wherein said transverse brace beams are supported by Clamps at their outer ends on posts of the side panels and at their adjoining inner ends on a post of an intershaft panel, one of said brace beams having a clamp at its inner end adapted to be releasably secured to said post of the intershaft panel.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,857,026 10/1958 Jones 52-123 3,156,329 10/1964 Alberti 52-638 3,302,749 2/1967 Heaphy et al. 182-178 XR FRANK L. ABBOTT, Primary Examiner.

P. C. FAW, Assistant Examiner. 

1. A MULTIPLE SHAFT HOISTING TOWER OF SKELETON CONSTRUCTION INCLUDING A VERTICAL ARRAY OF SUPERIMPOSED VERTICALLY INTERCONNECTED SECTIONS, EACH SAID SECTION BEING PERIPHERALLY DEFINED BY STRUCTURAL ELEMENTS INCLUDING AN INTEGRAL PANEL AT EACH SIDE THEREOF, AN INTEGRAL END PANEL RELEASABLY CONNECTED AT ONE END TO ONE OF SAID SIDE PANELS, AND AN INTEGRAL END PANEL CONNECTED AT ONE END TO SAID FIRST NAMED END PANEL AT ITS OPPOSITE END TO ONE OF SAID SIDE PANELS, SAID END PANELS EXTENDING ACROSS AND DEFINING ONE END OF SAID SECTION, AN INTEGRAL INTERSHAFT PANEL CONNECTED AT ONE END TO THE INTERCONNECTED END PORTIONS OF SAID END PANELS AND EXTENDING THEREFROM TOWARD THE OPPOSITE END OF THE SECTION AND IN A PLANE SUBSTANTIALLY PARALLEL TO SAID SIDE PANELS THEREOF, EACH OF SAID SIDE AND INTERSHAFT PANELS INCLUDING A TUBULAR UPRIGHT POST, A HORIZONTAL GIRT SECURED THERETO, A DIAGONAL BRACE OPERATIVELY CONNECTED BETWEEN THE POST AND A FREE END PORTION OF THE GIRT, AND PANEL CONNECTING MEANS AT THE OUTER END OF SAID GIRT ARRANGED WITH ITS VERTICAL AXIS SUBSTANTIALLY PARALLEL WITH THE POST AXIS, AND CONNECTING PINS EACH COMPRISING A SHANK AND A PERIPHERAL LATERALLY EXTENDING BEARING INTERMEDIATE THE ENDS OF SAID SHANK, SAID PANELS OF EACH SECTION BEING INTERCONNECTED WITH LIKE PANELS OF VERTICALLY ADJOINING SECTIONS BY SAID PINS, EACH OF WHICH PINS IS POSITIONED WITH THE END OF ITS SHANK BELOW SAID BEARING EXTENDING INTO THE UPPER END OF A COAXIALLY POSITIONED POST AND WITH SAID BEARING RESTING ON THE TOP EDGE THEREOF, AND WITH THE END OF THE SHANK ABOVE SAID BEARING EXTENDING INTO THE BOTTOM END OF A COAXIALLY POSITIONED POST IN A VERTICALLY ADJOINING UPPER SECTION OF THE ARRAY, WHEREBY SAID SIDE AND INTERSHAFT PANELS ARE RELEASABLY CONNECTED WITH SAID END PANELS TO FORM AN END TWO SIDES AND A PARTITION OF THE MULTIPLE SHAFT TOWER. 